Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles What to do with this BOSS thing anyway??

Wandered into the LGS the other day to look for powder and found a 6 digit NH Classic Stainless Model 70 '06 with a Nikon Monarch 3x9 for less than six bills. Buying it was a no-brainer.

Apparently the BOSS on the end of it frightened some guys off. My first inclination is to put a hacksaw and crowning tool to work, but I figured I might as well ask about the thing first. I hate muzzle brakes. Is the supposed accuracy benefit legit enough to keep this thing around and find a non-ported section for it?

Buy the CR (no holes device) and shoot it!!!

+1

You'd be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't at least give it a go, following the instructions to the letter. The barrel tuning ability is legit. I had a QUE tuner on a Remington 700 6mm. Works on the same principal as the Browning BOSS. By systematically adjusting the tuner, I was able to take a rifle that was previously cable of no better than 1.25" groups and tune it to shoot in the .5" range with the same load.

John

I have had the same experience as John with a M70 Classic FWT in 280.

Try it first before you start cutting.

Back before I began hand loading, I read about the BOSS the year it came out, and decided to try it with a .280 Rem. Now that I can roll my own and tune the load to the rifle, no need, but back then, it was like magic. I could pick the factory load I wanted to use, tune the barrel to it, and buy as many boxes as I thought I might need because once I had the settings dialed and recorded for each one, I could return it to that anytime I wanted when I switched loads for different purposes. It was always right on and every load I tried ended up under an inch, two of them way under. I used the CR at the range and the ported in the field.

I still own that rifle and I still shoot it, but as I've gotten older, I've decided it's kind of ugly. My boys sure do think it's cool, though. We were at the range one day a few years ago, and a weekend warrior type sits down right next to us, ignoring the empty benches further away, and starts banging away with a Bushmaster M4 style carbine, with the usual porting. The muzzle blast was annoying.
There was no one for two benches to the other side of us, so we could have picked up and moved, but we'd been there a while, were all set up and settled, so I decided to let the guy have some of his own medicine, instead. I had that .280 with us that day and I went out to the truck and got it. I took the CR unit off and put the ported unit on. I pulled out a box of fairly hot 140 gr loads, set up on the bags so that my muzzle was about at the same point forward as his, and touched off a 5 round group in short order. He asked what kind of magnum I was shooting, didn't believe me when I told him a .280 was no different than a .270, and moved a few benches over. I put the CR back on and we went on with our day. My older son still likes telling that story.

Your doing it backwards. CR in the field saves your ears, ported on the bench saves your shoulder.

Depends on how one looks at it: I don't have the luxury of a private range, so ported on the bench will kill my neighbors at the other benches (see story again) and seems terribly inconsiderate.

Ported in the field makes me feel more confident about staying on target, though I've never had to take a second shot with that rifle and it's doubtful how much actual target acquisition difference it makes, anyway, with a .280.

Your consensus is interesting. I'll likely try it. The thing looks like a turd perched on the end of the gun. I've never had trouble making various model 70s shoot but why not give it a go. The women might find the ported option handy. There's no manual, what's the procedure for tweaking it?

Checked for you, right quick. . . Browning still has instructions for it on their web site. The Win and Browning versions are identical, so same instructions apply. You can download the manual off the same page:

http://www.browning.com/customerservice/qna/detail.asp?id=108

I may still have the sheet of preliminary settings that my old gunsmith gave me when I bought the rifle, as well. If I do, I'll post the '06 start settings for different bullet weights.

I have one on a M70 in .300 Win.

Uglier than sin, and loud as all get out.

But it works.

I should probably get a CR for it too, seeing as the dang thing shoots too good to sell.

I have one on my Left hand stainless and wood m70 in 30-06. It hands down works. This gun shoots 1/2" 3 shot groups at 100 yards. And will keep under 2" at 300 yards. Ugly........yes. LOUD.....yes. but it works. So it stays

Exactly. That is what I will do, myself.

I bought a LH 70 Classic .375 H&H LNIB with non-BOSS custom muzzle brake and replaceable thread protector for a great price. It might possibly sell for less some day than one without, but I would never change it.

My hunting buddy who owned a high-end gun store taught me that unaltered weapons, including those with custom shop features, retain value best. I fiddled around with custom rifles for a while before I learned to believe him. Sure, those shoot fine, but in terms of value, there is a big difference unless you have an Echols or Wells, say.

Follow your first inclination.

boss does work,tune it in on the bench then put the cover on it. those things work very well.

I have the same rifle and went through this about 6 months ago. First off, get the CR to replace the ported brake. Either way, try 165-168 grain bullets at or around a setting of 2.2.

If you handload, send me a PM for details.

I had two. Had a Browning in 30-06 and a Winchester in 300WM. I picked them up when a local dealer was going out of business, along with a bunch of other stuff. What I paid for them was less than dealer cost.

The 300wm is still in the safe, less the barrel. It now wears a Kreiger. The 30-06 was sold to a buddy who wanted to get into hunting. I replaced both ported bosses with the CR. Much easier on the ears in the field. The ported attachment is good for bench shooting.

I found that the CR and the brake shot very close to the same setting, but not exactly. Close enough to interchange, however.

pabucktail, As others have said, give'r a try! If your not satisfied,it can work as a "heavy" sinker on your next fishing trip. Unless it's an accuracy advantage, I'll never own another brake.Somewhere in my "shoot'n stuff,is a KDF brake that my lightweight .375AI doesn't't need!! memtb

I had the same rifle topped with a Weaver V10, the BOSS CR was not available but the original worked exactly as it was designed. I was able to shoot cheap ammo and tune it to 3/4" at 200 easily, shot similar to my much lighter Model 7 243 but it was LOUD.

This

Shod

Which thereby makes any further comments unnecessary.

Cut it off

I believe there is a thread protector sleeve available if you choose not to implement the boss.
I have a model 70 338 with the boss and could give 2 turds what it looks like,it allows me to be comfortable and confident when shooting from prone plus it works as advertised.

Who cares what it looks like? If you cut it off, you're going to have a 30-06 with a full-length stock and about a 20.5" barrel--that'll be HOT while we're on the subject of looks. Might as well try it with the BOSS.

Different strokes....

I'd say: Uglier than sin, and loud as all get out. But it works like a charm.

I have other rifles I can pull out if I wanted to impress someone. I value function over form...YMMV

I also have a LH Stainless Classic .30-06 so equipped. Ugly to the point that I bought a non-BOSS take off barrel to put on it. Never installed it as the BOSS shoots so well. If the noise bothers you install the CR. Even though shooting an '06 doesn't bother me, the ported BOSS makes it a cream puff from the bench. Here's the chart from my manual.

I would love to know why they tested the 220 gr in 30-06 but not the 180 grain? This caused me much frustration...

That's a good question. Now we know what the guy who determines .223, .243, and .264 rates of twists was doing for a living years ago.

How many of the BOSS haters who object to what it looks like won't be using a suppressor either?

I reviewed several of them (4 in all) in different rifle configurations and cartridges, the first one I kept 6 months and wrung it out.

It was a 270 Browning and I dialed in groups in the .2's and .3's. None of the others did that well but the secret is minute changes where 1 direction opens the groups so you simply go the other way by the same amount.

Also tried removing the BOSS and working with the rifle bare, to see how the basic rifle performed.

The noise was the reason I sent it back and the short 20" barrel which starved the cartridge of velocity potential.

Now, after saying that, I shot goats out to a quarter mile on the flats with no apparent loss in performance in the field.

Try it first.

I have a M70 .300WM with one. It is a very accurate rifle. I installed the CR and never use the ported. One advantage, even for handloaders, is you can load to the velocity you want, and then tune the barrel. In the field the device helps protect the muzzle from dings if the rifle is placed muzzle to floor board in the truck or similar. However, if the rifle is leaning against something muzzle up, the big opening of the CR weight can "funnel" something in. I tape my muzzle in the field so this is not an issue. They are not pretty, but I do think the CR is the better looking of the two weights.

I'd try it. You may find it doesn't look so bad if it shoots itty-bitty groups. Who knows, someday the BOSS guns may bring a premium among collectors. Or maybe not. The collector market is funny.

I have a Browning Abolt 30-06 with a Boss.Given to me as a gift. It shoots great with both the suppressor and non suppressor attachments. I never could warm up to to it on the end of the barrel. Or the noise and flash. I looked high and low with no success for a sleeve to cover the treads that would make the barrel look more normal. I just took it off and covered the treads with black electric tape to protect them. It shoots Hornady 165 interbonds as good as i can shoot with the boss off. I mounted a Leupold pig plex scope on it and use for hogs in florida. It actually makes a nice little short barreled rifle for the atv and stalking in the brush. Not my favorite rifle in the safe but it has found its place. I would have never bought it myself but didnt have the heart to sell it since it was a gift.

It's not really a muzzle brake - it's more like a vibration-tuner..

And most of my customers have me either rebarrel it or cut it off and re-crown.. While the "Blue Book" gives it a roughly 10% premium on price, the REAL market is at least a 10% penalty.

I think I will eventualy have mine rebareled since all i will have in it is the cost of the new barrel.

These were not yet available when I reviewed these rifles so I had to "learn" the hard way. Because other writers were fighting to be first in print, I ignored them all and never read anything so the test could be objective. I got the best groups recorded but I later found it coincidental as after 4 of these being reviewed, the later 3 never equaled that 1st rifle for accuracy.
John

I copied this from an earlier thread on this topic. Worked great for me:

This will be more help fine tuning!

Prior to my retirement, I was the Chief Firearms test Engineer at Browning Arms R&D Division for many years.

I performed all the developmental testing for the BOSS system (well over 30,000 rounds fired)

To find your sweet spot, I'd suggest the following procedure.

With the system set at mid point, fire a carefully aimed 3 shot group. Adjust the weight 1/4 turn in either direction and fire another group of 3 shots. Compare the results. If the group is smaller, (if the group opens up, go in the other direction) continue in 1/4 turn increments until you reach optimum. The groups will open up again if you adjust past the optimum.
It's important let the rifle cool between groups.

That's the procedure I followed in determining starting points for the system. All testing was with commercial ammo, in a 100 yard tunnel with VERY good optics. After a short time, no one got very excited at any groups that were not sub 1/4". I recall one group that was .0029, right, 29 thousandths of an inch, but it must be remembered this was done under optimal conditions with high quality optics.

Hope this is of some use to you. I'll be glad to answer any questions you may have.

Best regards,
Rob
Very best WinPoor

I had a Ruger 77/22 Hornet sporter that shot like dog dirt. I added a Que muzzle brake/tuner and it shot into one hole! They work.

southtexas,

Based on my experience you left the questioner hanging. I discovered from experimentation even a 1/16 of a turn will make a difference once you get close to the correct spot.

Is this your experience?

Actually, the adjustments can be even smaller than that when fine tuning. I recorded several .2-3" groups under range conditions with hunting scopes but again, I could not replicate that level of accuracy in all 4 rifles shot over perhaps a year total under the same range conditions.

The cartridges I reviewed included:
.270 in a Browning A Bolt.
.22/250 Browning A Bolt Heavy Barrel.
.308 in Browning Auto
.270 Model 70 Stainless.

I tried a lot of loads to find accuracy and then fine tuned it. To test the BOSS unit for its individual benefit, I would likely load a Sierra bullet in a moderate load and let the rifle do the work from there.
John

The 1/4 turn technique got me to 1/2" to 5/8". Fine tuning may have improved the groups even more. But that accuracy level from a sporting rifle was sufficient for me.

FWIW with my Browning .30/06 a fairly minimal amount of tuning the BOSS got it to shooting five bullets through one ragged hole at 100 yards with my selected load. I made no other changes to the rifle beyond fitting a scope. I haven't changed either the settings or the load in the years since, and it still does just as well.

I only use the CR though. I have tried the ordinary BOSS on another rifle and it is very blasty - particularly if you are next to it while someone else is shooting. The CR on the other hand seems to reduce blast compared to a conventional barrel of the same length, if anything.

The benefit is one can pick a slug, load to a given velocity, and make it shoot with the boss. With out one, one has to dink with slugs, and loads until he finds a state the rifle likes.

Boarmaster123,

"I looked high and low with no success for a sleeve to cover the treads that would make the barrel look more normal."

Without looking at mine in detail I don't know if this will work, but here is an idea. Buy a CR and have a machinist shorten it and turn down the diameter. Alternatively, a good machinist can make something. Considering the cost of a CR (I don't know the current cost), I don't know which would be cheaper.

I had a Browning heavy barrel .223 with a BOSS. For some reason the factory never developed a "sweet spot" setting for this caliber. I wish I had known about the short cut system for finding the sweet spot. I must have worn out part of the barrel while trying to find the best setting. Once found the system worked as advertised.

Eventually what I did was find a sweet spot setting with one load then I reverted to the usual method of experimenting with various loads. This was cheaper than trying all the potential settings on the BOSS system.

In time the .223 was sold and replaced with a .222 Tikka heavy barrel. In spite of the Tikka reputation for accuracy the Browning was still quite a bit better.

I contacted the factory hoping they could help me find the sweet spot but they were either unable or unwilling to do so.

Right now I have an order in for an X-bolt .223 Gold Medallion stainless which should be delivered in May. This rifle has a 1-8" twist. It will be interesting to see what this one will do with heavier bullets. After reading all the hype about quick twist rifling I had to have one to try.

Jim

Thanks Gundoc, the crown on the barrel iscat the end of the threads so it might be easier and cheaper to just have a machinist make a sleeve from scratch rather than try to work with the two pieces. Its not really like a normal suppressor as it has that adjusting sleeve. Might work but I think i will save any dollars for a new barrel. Im am suprised no one has developed a sleeve as an aftermarket item but perhaps they feel interest would be too limited and the cost might be more than they think guys would pay for it. Cost of the non recoil suppressing attachment was $45 for me.
Darn shame I cant get good with it as it shoots great. But after 14 years of not appreciating it I doubt its going to grow on me. The black tape seems to be working right now. LOL.

I always thought all the boss did was accomplish the same thing you accomplish by adjusting OAL in your handloads, choosing an exit spot that's compatible.

jstevens,



Here's the difference: You can work up to maximum velocity and then adjust the brake or weight for accuracy. With working with overall length your load may not be the rifle's top velocity.

How much ammo did you guys burn up to find the sweet spot?

I used the guideline i found online that indicated where to start based on what i was shooting out of it. That gave me a good jump on getting it tuned. But i recall that i used up a box between tuning and zeroing . You know pretty fast if your going the wrong way.

I turned a guaranteed 2moa rifle into 2" and under at 300 yards in less than fifty rounds.

But what's fun is I took my first elk at a ranged 400 yards with it before I put the brake on it. I knew the bullet would hit within 4" of the aiming spot. The shot was as steady as a bench because I had a hump or berm to lay behind with the rifle on the soft dirt. The 160 partition made a 6" bruise entering and a 3" bruise exiting. The top of the heart was exploded. The bullet hit at the bottom of the "group" if there was one.

With my QUE tuner, a lot less than developing an optimum load.

John

The technology works, I've had one. Just my personal preference would be to hack off and re-crown.

Pull the barrel and sell it on ebay... mine sold last night.

How much barrel do you lose cutting it off? 24" with a Boss you end up at what? 22"?

I'd likely go that route, unless obviously I was going to re-barrel anyway.

IIRC, you end up at 21.5 - 21.75" if you take off all the numbered hash-marks on the barrel.

That's tempting! The perfect barrel length in these parts is anywhere between 18-21 inches.

Yup, trim it to 21"

Hunting gun = hack it off
Bench gun = leave it on

Leave it on with the CR sleeve and enjoy a very accurate rifle.

I recommend you take it off and shoot the rifle without to determine the accuracy of the barrel with your intended loads.

The most accurate of the 4 rifles I reviewed was the worst rifle I ever reviewed when the BOSS was reviewed. 2-2.5" groups from a rifle that shot .2's and .3's with the BOSS aligned to the best settings.

John

I had a 300WM BAR once with the BOSS. Worst rifle ever. I was younger and thought that muzzle breaks were "cool". Stupidly, I took the rifle on an elk hunt. I took a shot at a cow just inside the treeline. To this day I blame a large portion of my reduced/sensitive hearing to that event. I'm not exactly old either. I've never had such a painful experience with my ears before or since. It ruined my hunt even though I got the cow. I recently tried to talk one of my friends out of buying a 7mm RM with a muzzle break on it. He still bought it but I warned him to find a thread protector ring and hunt with the break off. If he doesn't I won't be anywhere near him when he shoots it.